Blue Revolution

The winds of change have blown through Italian Football.

After a pathetic 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Italian football has undergone an emphatic facelift.  Coach Cesare Prandelli, thrust into the national hot seat after his work with Fiorentina, has been tasked with restoring both morale and results to a football team that has lost the imagination and pride of the Italian public.  His reign, although presaged with an emphatic 5-0 win, will surely have much harder challenges ahead.  But having rebuilt the team around a new, youthful core, featuring the former enfante terrible, Antonio Cassano, his troops seem well equipped to recapture their place among global football’s elite.

Like many national team managerial appointments, Cesare has to weather the twin storms of media and public scrutiny, especially since everyone on the peninsula has an opinion on Squadra Azzurri following this summer’s debacle.  And with an underwhelming 1-0 defeat, in neutral London, to the Ivory Coast, in Prandelli’s first game in charge, the start has been ominous.

Although subsequent victories against Estonia, dispatched 2-1 in Talinn, and the Faroe Islanders, sees Italy sit atop Group C; forthcoming games against Serbia, Slovenia and November’s upcoming friendly in Russia, on the notorious plastic pitch; will pose a real test for Prandelli’s new look squad.

Heartening then, is the sight of so many new faces, players both young and from smaller Serie A sides, as the national team has been swept clean of cobwebs and deadwood.  Of the old guard, only captain Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon remain, with the duo joined by Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Gilardino, as the sole members of the squad with more than 40 caps.

Retooled around the talents of young playmaker Ricardo Montolivo and the aforementioned Cassano, Italy will hope to use the hunger and drive of players like Giuseppe Rossi, Gianpaolo Pazzini, Simone Pepe and Angelo Palombo to fuel future success.  Looking around the dressing room, lesser known names like Cristian Molinaro, Lorenzo Di Slvestri, Luca Antonelli and Leonardo Bonucci have all been handed recent debuts, blooding them for future combat.  Waiting in the wings, but part of the 23 man squad, are more strangers in Cesare Bovo, Andrea Lazzari and Luca Cigarini, as Prandelli seeks to try both variety and novelty in an effort to please media and public alike.

And that in itself is the challenge that Prandelli must accept.  Treading the fine line between keeping his media critics and the tifosi happy, while forging a winning team, is a daunting task for the 53 year old.  With recent challenges in rebuilding Fiorentina post Calciopoli and during his wife’s ultimately tragic battle with cancer, Prandelli is no stranger to pressure.  But with Euro qualification assumed and a deep run, at Ukraine and Poland, in two summers’ time, considered the basic remit by a baying Italian fan base, he knows he has little time to find the winning formula, and even less sympathy should he fail.

At the moment, both media and public are playing a waiting game.  With the former’s call for a flush of the old staff and the latter’s cries for more regional representation both achieved in the new look squad, Prandelli is seeking to keep most observers happy.  Fielding rookie goalkeepers Salvatore Sirigu and Emiliano Viviano in the opening two games of qualification was a bold yet timely move, but typical of his new policy of fielding fresh faces.  Sticking to the tried (and failed) would have brought fresh criticism from a tired public, but trying new personnel allows for experimentation, while keeping the critics silent.

Former bad boy Cassano has enjoyed stellar seasons at Sampdoria over the past few years, as he has successfully rebuilt his reputation as one of Italy’s finest playmaking forwards.  Fellow Samp players Pazzini and Palombo recreate an excellent system that has seen the club from Genoa go some way towards reaching the summit of the domestic game.  While Montolivo is still the heir apparent to fill Pirlo’s boots, once the latter retires, Cassano gives the Azzuri an extra option in the attacking third.  And with Pepe and De Rossi now in the prime of their careers, Italy’s new midfield has a balanced and versatile feel to it, whether the coaching staff goes with four or five players.

Chiellini is still the leader at the back and will hope new boys, Di Silvestri and Antonelli, can bed in quickly, while Bonucci and Domenico Criscito can redeem themselves after lackluster showings in South Africa this summer.  While Buffon, when healthy, is still the undisputed numero uno as custodian, his backups are somewhat untested and to that end, Prandelli has summoned a new generation to try their luck in goal.  Upfront, Gilardino and Rossi, are the starting strikers with any of Mario Balotelli, Pazzini and Fabio Quagliarella worthy backups, as Prandelli is spoilt for choice.

Despite the 1-0 reverse in London, the team seems to be coming together but more importantly, team Italia is playing with a vibrancy and enthusiasm not seen since Fabio Grosso wheeled away after slotting the winning penalty in 2006.  The future may seem bright, but the onus is on both Prandelli and his players to re-ignite the torch, one that they must then carry to the final in Kiev on July 1, 2012.

Like a good builder, Prandelli has all the right pieces and plenty of raw materials.  It’s up to him to craft the winning structure.  And on this form, it’s a decent start.